Crime Syndicate of America
by bee2091
Summary: It's always tough when you're fighting against your own counterpart because they're more than likely two steps ahead of you. They have almost the same identical use of your skills, they retain the level of knowledge you posses, and they're able to predict the next move you'll make before you have the chance to do so. But everything changes when they come to your universe for help.


**GHANA, AFRICA**

**JANUARY 14, 2017, 16:48 PMT**

A vast field full of sand. The atmosphere filled with thick humidity; nothing but the desert winds carrying multiple small sand-filled tornadoes encompassing two figures inactively waiting patiently at the peak of a small friable mound during the time of day where the scorching sun shines at its peak. The light dawning down on them forces their eyes to squint at the scene, that and to help prevent flying grime from entering their eyes. Their skin taking on the toll of the burning rays from the buoyant above. The two human bodies base themselves in front of absolutely nothing, looking onward to miles and miles of desert storms riding ahead of them. They stand here intentionally for one specific and circumstantial reason beyond means of ethical regulations. They're determined to get their dicey operation accomplished, even if it means losing their own lives in the process.

One of them a mum Caucasian male. Tall and quite fairly muscular with shoulder length black hair comprised with a black unitard, black shoulder pads, boots, and gloves. The chest area of his uniform is emblazoned with a red bird with its wings expanded to his abdomen and shoulders. A black utility belt is worn around his mid-torso and he carries eskrima sticks in a holster on the side of his right leg; a domino mask concealing his identity. Standing alongside of him, his female partner. A young adult female with olive-toned skin, long thick blonde hair in one ponytail braid dangling against the middle of her backside. She's slender in stature with an athletic build. Her uniform is a midriff costume colored in the shades of midnight blue, consisting of a black mask extending from her hairline to the cheekbones, a sleeveless top with three black buttons evenly spaced out downwards her midsection. She contains fingerless black gloves, finger-length athletic black shorts with midnight blue slashes on the sides, and black combat boots. Like her partner, a black utility belt environs her mid-torso and a pouch strapped to her left leg that is filled with assorted tools. A quiver is carried along her back with a black bow, each string with the colors of black, midnight blue, and white. A multitude of assorted arrows set place inside the quiver.

_They're ready_

The brisk wind blows against her face, a few strands of her locks escaping from the ponytail from which it's bind. They both know it's extremely blistering hot, almost as if they were being baked alive in an oven. The extremes of the weather condition didn't stop them before and won't stop them now. Her face full of seriousness, she turns her head slightly to the left to her view her partner who continues his everlasting stare into bliss.

"The storms are growing stronger by the minute. If there's any chance we need to go back to rethink this, we need to do it now before these storms kill us both." She says cautiously, using her fingers to trap her loose strands of hair behind her ear. "Are you even sure this is the right way to do this? There isn't any other way we can do this ourselves?"

His voice stays placid and calming. "We're facing an enemy that threatens the entire universe, and then some. What he can do...what he can accomplish is far out of our league to try stopping him. We'll lose if we try taking him on our own, but with their help we stand a chance. It's the only way." The two simultaneously look upward to the sky as the air current power increases in a matter of seconds. The uncontrolled weather behavior causes their hair activity to respond convulsively to the dramatic increase of the atmospheric condition. "It will only be a matter of time before the solstice arrives. It's our best chance for universal travel and persuade our counterparts to help us win this forthcoming war."

Expressions of doubt and uncertainty covers her face like a blanket. "What makes you think they'll help us? We're not exactly their kind of heroes, remember?"

The currents begin to slowly simmer down, making it easier to listen to one another as they spoke. Sandstorms ahead of them continue to spiral in a frenzy, catching their attention once again.

He continues, "At this point it doesn't matter. They'll have to help us, or Anti-Monitor will win. It's not our universe he's after Seeker, it's every universe that exists, including their own."

She stares deep into his eyes that hide being the mask. Though she can't tell from the sound of his voice, she alone knows he's apprehensive, but determined, as he always have been since they've met. She swallows the frog that has been trapped in her throat for the past couple of hours. "We offer them partnership, then what?"

"They will accept our help and they'll enter our universe with the rest of their team. We'll inform them of the upcoming matter, beat Anti-Monitor, and then we'll see what goes on from there if our universe remains if he doesn't demolish ours first."

His overall plan sounds easier said than done, but she knows this wouldn't be as simple as he makes it sound. There's more to the situation he isn't revealing and she knows this. "You sound confident Predator, but the people in the universe we choose aren't naive. What if they don't accept our invitation, regardless if their lives are at stake?

With all of the questions escaping her lips, Predator knows there's a current sense of worry and fear luring somewhere inside her. It's something he hasn't seen since their antagonistic enemy has made it clear that all universes will become extinct once he destroys through each and every one of them. As his team's leader, it's his job to keep them secure and balanced. The adolescent man meets eyes with Seeker, quickly observing the tenuous concern in her voice, yet written on her face. He gently places his hand on her shoulder as a sign of comfort. "Devil Ray and I talked about this after having the same thought. We have a better chance of their heroes joining us because we have something they don't."

She's bemused while watching him reach into his utility belt, upbringing a metal device no bigger than a normal sized calculator in front of their faces. He presses the circular button underneath the screen, displaying a digital still picture of a slightly muscular built male with spiky red hair and green eyes. His costume is yellow with red pants, red gloves, and yellow shoes with a red lightning bolt within a white circle.

"He looks like..." She mutters underneath her voice.

"It isn't him." Predator interrupts her before she had the chance to finish. "He looks like our own, but their Wally West died in attempt to save his world from complete destruction after an alien invasion. Unlike that universe, we have the tools to revive their Wally West and return him to their world."

She presses the same button, splitting the screen in two. Their eyes gaze on the left side of the screen with the remaining picture of Wally West and the other side replaying a short clip of him aiding to save the world along with two other speedsters with flashes of red trails following them from behind by his side on repeat, until he suddenly dissipates after becoming translucent and intagible within the seeming-like blizzard. The soundless clip lasts for a good thirty seconds, then begins all over again from the beginning.

"Years ago I discovered our Earth's magnetic field has been slowly dropping to a low due to his oncoming presence and since then I've been monitoring this Team for years, along with other universes, to see who would be the best fit to match with us for this upcoming enmity. They're strong. They're wise. We're almost one in the same."

Without any sure understanding, Seeker can't manage to separate her eyes from the still picture of Wally West. Something about the replay of his death, the casual heroic picture of him, and her partner's plan to re-involve this young man with their Team captivates her. It's almost obvious knowing she's in deep thought. "Because you're counterparts with their leader, that makes him good friends with their Wally West."

"Like I am to ours." He concludes, placing his hands behind his back. "They'll have to accept, cause if it were me I'd do the same for Streak." Due to a lack of touching the screen, the control turns itself off with the display of the deceased Wally West no more. "If we offer them that in exchange for their partnership and the well awareness of the destruction that awaits us all, we'll be in good hands." He gradually hands the device in her hands. Her eyes follow the object in anxiety, her fingers scantily trembling after the first touch. Before fully letting go, he touches the screen once more, then pressing a few more buttons on the pad to lead himself to the options menu. "The cosmic energy during the solstice will allows us to perform universal travel for a short amount of time. I'll have to make this visit quick, otherwise I'll be stuck in their universe until the next solstice arrives."

Predator presents a screen of multiple universes with their names on the left hand side and each Earth matching it on the right; a list of Earth's with the numbers one through fifty-two. It doesn't take long for him to scroll down to a highlighted Earth-16, then selecting this as his choice. He presses another side button which resides on the darkened highlighted word, _shift._ Without saying any form of farewell to his comrade, he proceeds to distancing himself from Seeker several yards away from her front side into the sand-like storm further beyond. His footsteps follow him, but are immediately swept away from the convulsive winds while he descends from the hillside. It's almost difficult for Seeker to spot his backside, his unrestrained whirling hair the only hint giving her that he's okay. The humid winds grow faster, a stronger storm approaching. The cosmic energy in the universe growing in their favor to complete the mission. He's now barely visible to her naked eye as she aims the front end of her control for his mid-section.

"Do it!" He shouts as loud as he can.

She hardly hears him from afar, but his voice was surprisingly loud enough. Seeker presses the button without hesitation, shooting a thick white ray of holographic energy towards Predator to seemingly harm him, but this doesn't phase him in any way shape or form. The quickness, power, and force of the propulsion causes the sand underneath to fly in all sorts of directions. Before making contact with his flesh, the beam of energy comes to a halt a couple feet ahead of him, making this a complicated sight for Strider to be sure if he's in safe condition. The ending point of this buoyant merges into a large circular batch of energy granting Predator in it's proximity, fairly wide and a few feet passing the top of his head, devising a route for him to perform universal travel from the designated universe in his favor; the bright light shining before him doesn't bother his retina in the slightest. He takes a few steps forward, not surprised that his device is in perfectly working condition. He raises his hand from his left side, pressing his palm against the energetic field. His hand sinks and disappears into the entryway like a sponge soaking up water. Within a few seconds of his short test he resists and pulls his hand back to be sure no part of his limb has detached from his body.

_This is it_

He promptly takes his first step inward with his right leg, moving forward with half of his body following through and then the rest until he's seen no more. Once the transfer is complete, Seeker watches as the large circular field of energy shrinks back into the form of the thick single ray it once was and slowly finding it's way back to the front end of the remote. She's left in solitary without Predator in sight. After a few seconds of actually coming to conclusion that their transfer has worked, she reaches for her right ear with her right hand to press against her communications link...

"Predator's transportation is successful. Devil Ray, I'm ready."


End file.
